Meet Andrea Enright of The Boot Factor in Platt Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Enright.

Andrea, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Midwest Beginnings
I grew up in small town Illinois, on the Mississippi River with entrepreneurial parents. They believed that life was an adventure to be had, and I took that to heart.  After getting an advertising degree from the University of Illinois and spending a year in the UK as the recipient of a Rotary Ambassador Scholarship, I was fortunate to graduate into a thriving economy. Dotcoms were dynamite, Starbucks was still new and I didn’t have a mortgage. I headed to Denver and cut my teeth on website content and newsletter writing at WeddingNetwork.com (later acquired by Modern Bride).

The Predictable Path
When the three-hour lunches ended in late 2001, I started my own marketing business, doing editorial management and rebranding for clients like Dex, Qwest, and Xcel Energy. Relationships and writing became my passion. I learned how to deal with legal, align with the brand, and facilitate even the most crowded conference call. I loved the adventure (contractor status) with the security (financially lucrative). And I always kept a few creative clients on the side (read: Chipotle, Boston Market, etc.).

The Early Life Crisis
Eventually, I burned out of corporate life. The pace was slow. The commute was long. I felt like I was working at the cutting edge of mediocrity. In addition, my husband and I had hit a slump. Somehow we were receiving less satisfaction than originally anticipated from stuff like hair highlights, Banana Republic purchases, and marathon training runs. Something was missing.

The Weird Part
So, in 2005, we rented out our house, sold our cars and joined the Peace Corps. We were looking for a mud hut. We got an Eastern block apartment in Sofia, Bulgaria with wifi and a killer Indian restaurant down the street. But a post-communist society was no picnic. The challenges were just different. Less horned animals. More unhappy people. For the next 27 months, I applied my first-world marketing skills to the third-world non-profit sector, helped rural, disabled artisans sell their pottery, taught job seekers about resumes and introduced a little thing called staff meetings to my colleagues. And–I landed a few speaking roles in B-movies for the SyFy Channel.

Following our service, we spent nine months couch-surfing and hitchhiking across the Middle East and North Africa, often working for food and rent. We WWOOFed on an olive farm in Turkey, built a website for a Palestinian NGO in Beirut, taught orphans computer skills in the jungles of Uganda and wrote website content for a resort on the Red Sea in Dahab, Egypt.

The First ReBrand
In 2008, we returned to a sagging economy, but I secured a corporate contract with Great-West Health Care, got yoga-certified and birthed my daughter (without an epidural btw). Then I saw an opportunity. In the burgeoning tech industry, there was a clear need for a writer who could simultaneously tell a story, grasp difficult concepts and translate abstract services into understandable ideas. That’s when I began writing for Ping Identity. Several tech clients followed. I eventually rebranded my business as a content brokerage, leveraging my network to match tech companies with savvy writers.

The Second ReBrand
In 2015, tired of tech, I shifted my business yet again to focus on my true love. Personal and professional branding. I called it the Boot Factor. Why? Because boots had become my own signature accessory. My ultimate expression. My way of being brave. I love helping coaches, creatives and consultants find their voice, infuse meaning into their brand and build an online presence with familiarity and imperfection. What results is website content, LinkedIn profiles, bios, blogs, social media messaging, email marketing campaigns, message coaching, hand-holding and accountability.

I often speak (and swear) in front of small crowds, infusing irreverence and pop culture into content. I’m working on a Boot Kicking Brand Journal (due out in 2020). On a personal note, I’m fond of 80s music, Guilty Pleasures Karaoke Spin class (www.epicryde.com) and key lime pie. I struggle to remain calm. I don’t eat enough vegetables. But my daughter is my guru. My husband and I love to dance. And my most favorite thing in the world is the little free library I made out of an old camping oven.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, but come one, smooth (even peanut butter!) is boring. Here’s what I’ve learned. . .

On the concept of time…
Twenty years ago, a guy I met on a plane told me: “The great thing about entrepreneurship is that you get to decide which 14 hours of the day you work.” For several years, this held true for me too. But not anymore. Here’s how: Sharpen your niche. Create a monthly model. Stop working by the hour. Outsource whatever you can.

On the classic challenges. . .
Entrepreneurship is full of annoying bits: too many clients, too few clients, not enough peer support. But so is a full-time job. You just have to pick which dark side you want to deal with.

On getting real…
During our travels abroad, I wrote frequently as a guest blogger, on my own blog, and for expat publications. I was interviewed here about it. And as I did, I realized that the more I bared my heart, the more people said: “Me too.” The more authentic I became with my own personal brand, the more people responded. The lesson? You just have to be you. Unabashedly you. And that makes you relatable. Go toward what you love. I now help clients along this path. Turns out Hallmark was right all along. Elizabeth Gilbert, Anne LaMott and Natalie Goldberg helped me get there too.

On balance…
Six months into motherhood, I was a wreck. Sleep-deprived and overwhelmed, I was often wandering around the house in my bathrobe. People kept telling me to follow my instincts, and I was like: WTF, I don’t hear anything! My husband’s contract had recently ended. Then the furnace died. We probably played that one Loggins and Messina song too many times. One day, we looked at each other and both said something like: “It’s going to be okay.”
Then, he said: What are you talking about?
And I said: The money.
And I said: What are you talking about?
And he said: The baby.
And that’s when we knew we needed to switch jobs for a while.
The lesson? There is no right or wrong when you’re trying to run a business, be a partner and raise a child at the same time. Do what works for you.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Boot Factor story. Tell us more about the business.
I run The Boot Factor and specialize in personal branding for coaches, creatives and consultants. (i.e. photographers, , wellness specialists, artists, musicians). I am a brand storyteller, a messaging coach, a marketing consultant and an accountability partner. I love to mine people for their magic. And with every blog, website, email, marketing sheet, bio or social media campaign, I follow three pillars: Translate (shift the perspective from you to them), Educate (tell them something they didn’t know) and Enchant (give it all meaning). Here’s why I’m different:

Back in Student Council Camp, circa 1987, I was told that nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. It stuck.

Yet websites, even now, 30-some years later, can’t stop bragging about themselves. They’re caught in old-school marketing wisdom: “I must immediately describe my benefits and features and talk about awesome I am!” instead of the new marketing wisdom: “I must listen, evoke emotional appeal, understand my audience’s pain points and provide an experiential solution.”

I do that second thing.

Then, when it’s time to describe the offering, and clients struggle to really define what they do (they’re too close to it) or who they are (they haven’t thought about this since they were dating), I work my magic. I dig and root around in their psyche. I ask uncomfortable questions. I ask why. I ask where. I ask what the hell. I connect such awesomeness to their offering. Then, I weave that creamy goodness into a story and a brand.

The result is a huge learning experience and consistent leads for my clients.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I loathe the lack of depth and concentration in our society–and it’s getting worse all the time. Myself included. Distractions are plentiful and they come with a handy hit of dopamine. That means content has to be distilled down to its most essential bits, Clarity is good. Shorter is often better. And content can science it up as well. Because humans are feeling machines, uplifting, emotion-evoking content can easily leverage your neuro-transmitters in a good way. Look for more of that to come.

I also believe what balances this lack of focus is the maker revolution. Learning and unlearning is the very key to survival. Creation fuels us. It keeps our soul alive. Every day around the world, even amidst incoming texts and emails, people are creating. They’re learning to make music videos, brew beer, write books, design jewelry, build email campaigns and so much more. I see that growing and evolving.

One more thing. We all know that content is moving toward automation. AI will get better and better at writing emails, summarizing meetings and asking questions. But I also believe with all my heart that marketing will always need an emotional, human component.

Pricing:

• Boot-Kicking Branding Packages start at $750/month

Contact Info:

• Address: 1676 South Sherman Street
  Denver, CO 80210
• Website: www.thebootfactor.com
• Phone: 303.746.1503
• Email: andrea@thebootfactor.com
• Instagram: andreaenright
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storytellerdenver/

Image Credit:
Peggy Dyer

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